Technical Field
The present invention relates to an in-vehicle camera and a vehicle control system.
Related Art
In recent years, techniques have been in practical use in which an in-vehicle camera is installed in a vehicle. According to the techniques, assistance for driving the vehicle is performed by using images taken by the in-vehicle camera (refer to JP-UM-A-5-32191).
The in-vehicle camera may be attached to a windshield from the inside of the vehicle. This type of in-vehicle camera is attached so that the top face of a case thereof is opposed to the windshield. In addition, the top face of the case is inclined downward depending on the inclination angle of the windshield. The lens of the camera is exposed at the top face of the case.
The inclination angle of the windshield varies depending of the type of vehicle. Meanwhile, the in-vehicle camera is attached so as to constantly face in a constant direction with respect to a road surface. Hence, the inclination angle of the top face of the in-vehicle camera, which is attached to the windshield, is uniformly determined for each in-vehicle camera. Therefore, in a certain type of vehicle, as shown in FIG. 8, the inclination angle of the top face 203 of the in-vehicle camera 201 does not agree with the inclination angle of a windshield 101, whereby a lens 205 of the in-vehicle camera 201 is distanced from the windshield 101. In this case, a phenomenon is caused in which light L coming from the lower side is reflected off the windshield 101 and enters the lens 205 (reflection). To prevent this reflection, a hood 207, which is attached to the lower side of the lens 205, is required to project longer toward the front side so as to shield the light L. However, if such a long hood 207 is attached, it becomes difficult to install the in-vehicle camera 201 in a narrow space.